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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22547314">Staying In With You</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/perpetfic/pseuds/Perpetual%20Motion'>Perpetual Motion (perpetfic)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Law &amp; Order: SVU</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Fluff, M/M, Pugs, domestic as fuck, prompts fest</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-02-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-02-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-28 15:21:27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,484</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22547314</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/perpetfic/pseuds/Perpetual%20Motion</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>It's rainy, and the pups are rowdy. Not a bad day, if you ask Rafael (prompts: rainy day; showtunes)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Rafael Barba/Dominick "Sonny" Carisi Jr.</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>44</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Barisi Valentine Prompt Challenge 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Staying In With You</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Rafael wakes up because Ruth and Appa have started a wrestling match under the covers. He sighs and lifts the blanket, snapping his fingers so the pugs look at him. "Stop," he says. Ruth snorts and bites at the air. Appa drops into a sit, and his tongue hangs out of his mouth more than usual. Rafael smiles at both of them, then glances at the clock. It's a quarter past nine. </p>
<p>"It's pouring," Sonny says as he walks into the bedroom with two mugs of coffee. </p>
<p>"Ah," Rafael replies. That explains the wrestling match when the dogs should be sacked out for their morning-to-mid-afternoon nap. "Did our judge at least go outside this time?"</p>
<p>"She went exactly thirty feet, hopped into that plant on the next stoop, peed, and immediately turned me back around."</p>
<p>"And Appa followed along like the dunce he is," Rafael says. </p>
<p>Appa, on hearing his name, snuffles his way up to the top of the duvet. Ruth remains completely covered, the quiet, damp sound of her licking her paws matched by the rhythmic movement of the blanket she's under.</p>
<p>"Yup," Sonny says, scritching Appa behind the ears. "You're supposed to be the leader," he says to Appa. "You're the big brother. You gotta teach your little sister the rules."</p>
<p>Appa sneezes, then flops flat on the bed, head on his paws. He looks between Sonny and Rafael, then rolls onto his back and waves his legs in an invitation to play. </p>
<p>Rafael laughs and scratches his belly. "Well, you tried," He says. </p>
<p>Ruth, realizing Appa is getting pets, comes barreling up the bed and doesn't stop until she's got her head pressed hard against Rafael's chest to demand her own pets. </p>
<p>"Come here, you goblin," Sonny says, scooping her up in one arm and putting her on his lap. He holds his coffee cup up high  as she tries to sniff it. "Oh, no way. You're crazy enough without caffeine."</p>
<p>Rafael keeps petting Appa and leans over to peck Sonny on the mouth. Ruth--right on schedule--tries to jump between them to get the attention instead. "Morning," Rafael says. </p>
<p>"Morning," Sonny replies. He brushes their noses together, then turns his attention back to Ruth. "My god, how do you go on with no one to pay attention to you?" he asks. Ruth replies by pressing her butt into Sonny's hand and wiggling her curly little tail until he gives her scritches at the base of her spine. </p>
<p>*</p>
<p>They manage another fifteen minutes in bed before the dogs get wound up again. Sonny rescues Rafael's empty coffee cup from his hand and whistles for the dogs as he leaves the bedroom. "Come on! Breakfast!"</p>
<p>Ruth and Appa both scurry down the small staircase they use to get up and down from the bed, and they rush after Sonny, their claws clicking on the hardwood between the rugs. </p>
<p>Rafael stands and stretches, then opens the curtain. It's pouring. So hard, in fact, it's difficult to see the building across the way. "I can't believe you got her out of the vestibule!" He calls out to Sonny as he turns and picks up his phone. He has work e-mails, but he swipes them off his screen. It's pouring rain. The dogs are excitable. And he can already smell the faint scent of something homey and filling coming from the kitchen. They have a day off together, and Rafael's going to relish it as much as he can. </p>
<p>He shrugs into his robe and pads down the hall to figure out where Appa's hidden his slippers this time. Sonny's singing softly to the dogs as they dance around him waiting for breakfast. </p>
<p>"You're red and yellow and green and brown," Sonny sings as he picks up both dog dishes and steps over the pugs to set the food on the floor, "and scarlet and black and ocher and peach…"</p>
<p>Rafael finds his slippers shoved halfway under the large leather ottoman that he used to use as a secondary coffee table but is now fully owned by the dogs. There are two nests of blankets, a scattering of toys, and enough treat crumbs that Rafael can see that he makes a mental note to vacuum the thing the next time the dogs go out. He can't do it while they're in the apartment. They'll run over and start barking and trying to fight the dustbuster.</p>
<p>Sonny's cracking eggs into a bowl when Rafael looks up from getting his slippers on, and Rafael takes a moment to appreciate the view. Sonny's wearing a long-sleeved tee with his sleep pants, and his hair is fanned across his forehead, the cowlick he usually tames with product along with the rest of his hair flying free. He whisks the eggs with a fork as he continues to sing under his breath, and he grins when he catches Rafael watching. "Hi there," he says.</p>
<p>"Hi," Rafael replies. He walks around Sonny to pour himself a second cup of coffee, then wraps an arm around Sonny's waist and leans his cheek against Sonny's back. "I'll wear the little monsters out after they're done eating. Thanks for taking on that hurricane outside."</p>
<p>"Hey, it was my morning to walk them," Sonny replies. "But thanks for appreciating the effort."</p>
<p>Rafael presses a kiss between Sonny's shoulder blades and takes a deep breath. The crock pot is plugged in next to the coffee maker, and this close, Rafael can smell the spice mix Sonny likes to use when he makes brisket. He sways back and forth a little, humming quietly as he takes in all the little pieces of a day at home. The dogs are slurping and snorting as they eat. There's a small, metallic <em>ting</em> as Sonny dumps the eggs into a hot pan and the edge of the mixing bowl and the pan touch briefly. Then the bristly sound of bacon frying as Sonny lays strips out in a second pan. </p>
<p>This is not the life Rafael ever thought he'd have. Domestic and cozy with two, flat-faced goblins licking his toes after he showers or a perfect gangle of a man who will likely spend the day on the to-do list he is forever adding to on the fridge. </p>
<p>"You're gonna put up the new medicine cabinet today, aren't you?" Rafael asks. He smiles at Sonny's quiet laugh, which rumbles through him and makes Rafael feel warm. </p>
<p>"To start, yeah. I want to take a look at that window in the office, too. It likes to swell when it rains, so now'd be a good time to really see what I'd need to do to fix it."</p>
<p>"Hire someone," Rafael murmurs.</p>
<p>Sonny laughs again. "If I need to, I will. But it probably just needs planed and resealed."</p>
<p>"Fascinating," Rafael says. He nuzzles Sonny's back when Sonny squeezes gently on his arm. "Look at where we are," Rafael sings quietly. "Look at where we started."</p>
<p>"I want you to know that you're a miracle," Sonny sings back. He always changes the lyrics to what he says is a better fit, and Rafael finds it very hard to argue. </p>
<p>"Just stay right here, it'll be enough," Rafael finishes the altered line. </p>
<p>The dogs, as is the requirement of dogs, break the moment with a sudden scuffle and barking fit. Rafael takes a step back so he can turn and see what they're doing. "They're being idiots," he says to Sonny when he realizes they're literally standing a foot apart and barking in each other's faces with no actual signs they're fighting.</p>
<p>Sonny kisses the top of Rafael's head, then turns back to test the cook on the bacon. "Well, they learned it from us," he says. </p>
<p>Rafael rolls his eyes, then walks over to the ottoman, upsetting the blanket nests until he finds the rope toy they'll always spend ten minutes tugging back and forth. "Come here, you goblins!" he says. Ruth and Appa both make a dash for him, Appa sitting with full body wiggles as he waits for Rafael to lower the toy so he can get at it. Ruth has no such decorum, jumping up, her front legs coming off the ground, and snorting in excitement. </p>
<p>Rafael drops the toy between them, then curls up in the armchair to keep an eye on them while they play. The smell of bacon starts to take over the living room, and Rafael sighs with a contentment he'd always hoped for but never expected. It's going to be a good day, he knows, even with the dogs a bit wild. Sonny will play handyman, and Rafael will catch up on some reading, and if the rain lets up, they'll get Ruth and Appa out for a proper walk, the two of them side-by-side as the dogs zig zag their way down the block. </p>
<p>It's going to be a good day.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Sonny's singing a song from "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat," and he and Rafael duet lines from "Hamilton".</p>
<p>The pugs' full names are as follows:</p>
<p>Ruth Bader Pugsberg (hence calling her "the judge")<br/>APA Barba (Assistant Pug Attorney Barba)--Appa for easy pronunciation.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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